Linear Technology Corporation reported financial results for the fiscal quarter ended June 28, 2015. Quarterly revenues of $379.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 increased $14.1 million or 3.8% over $365.4 million reported in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 and increased $7.5 million or 2.0% over the previous quarter's revenue of $372.0 million. Net income of $132.7 million increased $3.0 million or 2.3% over the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 but decreased $2.5 million or 1.8% from the third quarter of fiscal year 2015. Diluted earnings per share of $0.54 per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 increased $0.01 per share or 2% over the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2014 but decreased $0.01 per share or 2% from the third quarter of fiscal year 2015. Net income and diluted earnings per share decreased on a sequential basis primarily due to a higher effective tax rate of 25.25% compared to 22.50% in the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Revenue for fiscal year 2015 was $1,475.1 million, an increase of 6.2% or $86.7 million over revenue of $1,388.4 million in the prior fiscal year. Net income of $521.0 million for fiscal year 2015 increased $61.0 million or 13.3% over $460.0 million reported in the previous fiscal year. Net income grew at a greater percentage than revenue primarily due to the extinguishment of the Convertible Senior Notes at the end of fiscal 2014. Accordingly, fiscal year 2015 had no related interest expense.
Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities increased by $67.4 million over the third quarter of fiscal year 2015 to $1.20 billion. A cash dividend of $0.30 per share will be paid on August 26, 2015 to stockholders of record on August 14, 2015. During the fourth quarter the Company generated positive cash flows from operations of $161.4 million or 43% of total revenues. The Company has historically generated strong cash flows from its operations. During the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 the Company returned $105.6 million to shareholders in the form of dividends of $73.4 million, representing $0.30 per share and stock purchases of $32.2 million.
According to Lothar Maier, CEO, “We met the low end of our revenue guidance with growth of 2% sequentially over the March quarter. Our industry leading gross margin and operating margin percentages remained relatively steady at 76.1% and 46.5% while earnings per share declined $0.01 to $0.54 due to a higher tax rate. For the fiscal year, we grew revenue 6.2% to $1.47 billion, while earnings per share increased 11.6% to $2.12. As we indicated last quarter, the June quarter is typically a strong quarter for us, though we had some concern with global macroeconomic conditions that tempered our expectations. As the quarter progressed, these conditions appeared to worsen and bookings slowed considerably. The bookings decline was broad based across all major markets and regions.
“Our largest market, Industrial, suffered the largest decline followed by the Computer market which appears to be weak for the entire industry. In the early weeks of the current quarter, bookings have improved. However, due to the decline in bookings received in the June quarter, coupled with a sluggish global economic environment, we are preparing for a difficult first fiscal quarter. We are forecasting our revenue to decline sequentially in the 7% - 12% range. We are optimistic that this will be a short cycle and that this is temporary weakness experienced while our customers react to global uncertainties and adjust their inventories to match their cautiousness and end customer demand. Design activity remains robust and we see many opportunities where new, innovative products require our innovative analog solutions,†concluded Maier.
